Employee Offboarding Should Include the Accounts That Control Public Business Listings

A person leaving a company may still have access to directory dashboards, verification emails, password managers, or recovery phone numbers. Those accounts can be forgotten because they are not used every day.

Start with an account inventory

Maintain a register of major directory profiles and the users who can access them. When someone leaves, the team should not have to remember which platforms were used three years ago.

Transfer ownership before removing access

If the departing employee is the only administrator, create or verify another business-controlled admin first. Update recovery email addresses and phone numbers so the company is not locked out later.

Remove agency and contractor access when the relationship ends

Temporary project access should have an end date. Do not leave external users attached indefinitely because “they might be needed again.” Access can be granted again if a future project requires it.

Check shared secrets

If a directory still uses one shared password, change it when an authorised user leaves. Better yet, move toward individual user accounts where the platform supports them.

Offboarding is an information-maintenance task as well as an HR task. A business should know who can change its public name, location, phone number, and website at any given time.

Offboarding should include every listing account

When an employee or contractor leaves, removing access from the main website is not enough. Directory dashboards, verification emails, shared spreadsheets, password managers, and third-party listing tools can all retain access. Keep an inventory of important accounts so offboarding can cover the full publishing chain.